HB 1363 - AS INTRODUCED

2016 SESSION

16-2527

06/09

HOUSE BILL 1363

AN ACT relative to filling of vacancies in town offices.

SPONSORS: Rep. Hull, Graf. 9

COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

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ANALYSIS

This bill requires towns to provide notice of vacancies in town offices.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

16-2527

06/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen

AN ACT relative to filling of vacancies in town offices.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1  Town Elections; Vacancies in Town Offices.  Amend RSA 669:61, I to read as follows:

I.  Whenever a vacancy as defined in RSA 652:12 occurs in any elective town office or whenever a town neglects or refuses to fill an elective town office, said vacancy shall be filled by the action of that body or person authorized by law to appoint or elect such officer for a term ending upon the election and qualification of his successor, unless otherwise provided.  The authorized body or person shall post notice of the vacancy to be filled in 2 appropriate places, one of which may be the town's Internet website, if such exists, or in a newspaper of general circulation in the town.  The notice shall include a solicitation for letters of interest and only those persons who submit such a letter shall be considered.   Unless otherwise provided, at said next annual town election, the voters of the town shall then elect an officer for the full term provided by law or the balance of an unexpired term provided by law, as the case may be.  If a town then refuses or neglects to fill said office, a vacancy shall be deemed again to exist.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.